Conducting a secondary data analysis to estimate the incidence of congenital syphilis in South Africa, 2010 - 2016

Conducting a secondary data analysis to estimate the incidence of congenital syphilis in South Africa, 2010 - 2016

Lazarus Rugare Kuonza^1,2,3,&, Tuyakula Nakale⁴, Sinesia Lucinda Jose Sitao⁵, Casey Daniel Hall⁶

 

¹South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Services, Johannesburg, South Africa, ²School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, ³School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, South Africa, ⁴Namibia Institute of Pathology, Windhoek, Namibia, ⁵Mozambican Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, ⁶Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA

 

 

^&Corresponding author
Lazarus Rugare Kuonza, South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Services, Johannesburg, South Africa

 

 

 

 

General instructions: the case study is suited for a class of 15-20 trainees per session. Trainees should preferably be seated in a U-shaped setup to encourageparticipation and interaction. The instructor facilitating the session should direct participants to read a paragraph aloud, going around the room to give each participant a chance to read. When a participant reads a question, the instructor maychoose to engage the class in large group discussion of the answer, randomly identify a participant to respond to the question, or divide the class into smaller groups for exercises, depending on the type of question. The role of the instructor is largely to coordinate the session such that participants learn from each other, and not just from the instructor.

 

Audience: public health practitioners involved in the analysis and interpretation of surveillance data, and others who are interested in the topic.

 

Prerequisites: before using this case study, case study participants should have received lectures or other instruction on data quality, basic descriptive epidemiology, and analysis of secondary datasets.

 

Materials needed: flip chart or white board with markers, graph paper, and calculator.

 

Level of training and associated public health activity: data management and analysis.

 

Time required: 3 hours

 

Language: English

 

 

• Download the case study student guide (PDF - 1.03 MB)
• Request the case study facilitator guide.

 

 

The authors declare no competing interests.

 

 

We wish to thank the African Field Epidemiology Network and Emory University for organizing a case study development workshop through which this case study was conceptualized and developed. We also acknowledge Ms. Rudzani Mathebula, a resident of the South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme during 2017, for conducting the secondary data analysis on which this case study is based.

 

 

1. Wikipedia. Notifiable disease. 2017. Accessed on 22 May 2018.


2. Statistics South Africa. Publication | Statistics South Africa [Internet]. Statistics South Africa - Recorded Live births. Accessed on 22 May 2017.